I've just watched Mythbusters and they tested a super strong substance called 'Pykrete'. It was proposed that they could build aircraft carriers in WWII from what is just water and sawdust frozen. Mythbusters Build a Ship Out of Ice – The Lore of Geoffrey Pyke in the hands of Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage - Popular Mechanics Pykrete - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2 Million Ton Pykrete Aircraft Carrier In WW2 - Video
I remember seeing a programme about this last year. Not having read the links wasn't it made with sawdust or something to stop the ice melting ref the Aircraft Carrier? Cheers Andy
I remember seeing a programme about this last year. Not having read the links wasn't it made with sawdust or something to stop the ice melting ref the Aircraft Carrier? Cheers Andy Yes, Andy. And it withstood a bullet as they shot it to prove it's strength.
Wasn't it one of Churchill's ideas? I'm trying to think why they scraped the idea.....Canada rings a bell too
Just noodling about. From AB's Diary & notes: 9/8/43 "COS meeting... Scheme for making aircraft carriers out of ice! One of Dickie Mountbatten's bright ideas!" 19/8/43 (note) "Dickie had come up to me just before our combined COS meeting, at which I knew I was going to have difficulties with Marshall, and asked me if he might explain to the Americans the progress that had been made with 'Habbakuk'. I am afraid that I replied "To hell with Habbakuk, we are about to have the most difficult time with our American friends and I shall not have time for your Ice Carriers!". However, he went on begging that I should remember it if there was time." There then follows a description of 'Dickie' bringing in large cubes of Ice (In a hotel) and discharging a revolver at them, showering the COS of both nations with Ice splinters from the normal ice & the Pykrete result being; "the bullet rebounded out of the block and buzzed round our legs like an angry bee" This apparently raised comment from one outside who knew how tense the meeting would be - "Good heavens, they've started shooting now".
I discuss Pykrete and its brilliant but utterly bonkers inventor Geoffrey Pyke on a previous thread: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-air/15299-fugos-balloon-bombs.html I have long been interested in Pyke and HMS 'Habbakuk' and included him in a talk I gave last year on weird military technology. A vision of what 'Habbakuk' may have looked like if completed can be seen in the book 'My Tank is Fight!' by Zack Parsons about what-if weapons of World War II. Pyke was the subject of a rather good radio play by Steve Walker called 'Habbakuk of Ice' originally broadcast in 2001 which I happened to catch recently on BBC Radio 7. It features a wonderful performance by Tim ('Blackadder') McInnerney as the endearing but crackpot Pyke, who tragically committed suicide in 1948. The famous telly boffin Magnus Pyke was his cousin. I don't always recommend wikipedia as a source but its entries for Pyke, Pykrete and Habbakuk are well worth reading. You can also read Steve Walker's play at: Radio plays by Steve Walker
There then follows a description of 'Dickie' bringing in large cubes of Ice (In a hotel) and discharging a revolver at them, showering the COS of both nations with Ice splinters from the normal ice & the Pykrete result being; "the bullet rebounded out of the block and buzzed round our legs like an angry bee" Anything can be expected from the country that begat Monty Python
Originally Posted by von Poop There then follows a description of 'Dickie' bringing in large cubes of Ice (In a hotel) and discharging a revolver at them, showering the COS of both nations with Ice splinters from the normal ice & the Pykrete result being; "the bullet rebounded out of the block and buzzed round our legs like an angry bee" According to the History Channel doco this incident occured at the Quadrant conference in Quebec and the ricochet from the bullet that was fired at the Pykrete went on to nick Admiral King's leg. We'd all have heard a lot more about Pykrete if the bullet had done more damage.
In the Frontenac Hotel's drawing room no less! I'm guessing this is the same Frontenac hotel? There's no mention in AB's Diary or notes of Admiral king getting nicked, but AB was feeling somewhat 'strained' about Americans in general at that precise time... so maybe he thought it unworthy of comment .
I've heard many different versions of that shooting incident, from George Marshall getting nicked, to Ernie King - Ernie King makes more sense...given that he was so rabibidly Anglophobic!!!
As stated there seem to be numerous versions of the Mountbatten/Pykrete shooting incident. Admiral King is the usual victim of the ricochet, but it varies from 'narrowly missing' to 'putting a hole in his trouser leg' to actually winging him.
Parts of the scale experiment built on a frozen lake in western Canada still exist on the bottom of the lake. The scale carrier was partially framed in wood and when the spring thaw came the whole thing sank (waterlogged). If I remember correctly the lake is in Jasper National Park in Alberta. Every once in a while it gets written up in various scuba diving magazines.
An amazing if slightly odd idea - the amount of wood involved would have been like felling a rainforest and what would it be like to live on such a craft ? Glad it didn't get to far , time money resources involved would have been a major aid to the axis. Germany made the mistake of investing in systems which could not be brought into play within a reasonable time span and which required development work which could not be compressed into the existing timescale - strong as it may have been was it really realistic ? Whilst the sound track says it would have saved lives from the island hopping which was required to get to Japan , it would have meant having to land on Japan at great cost in lives. Air power although useful was not proven to have been an independent war winner. All eggs in one basket made of pykrete , not a good idea.
It's not necessarily as wild an idea as you might think... An amazing if slightly odd idea - the amount of wood involved would have been like felling a rainforest Imagine taking a rectangular block of seasoned wood, and milling the stock of a Lee-Enfield out of it...what happens to the waste??? and what would it be like to live on such a craft ? Cold - but no colder than OUTDOORS on deck on watch in the North Atlantic in winter!!! Whilst the sound track says it would have saved lives from the island hopping which was required to get to Japan , it would have meant having to land on Japan at great cost in lives. Air power although useful was not proven to have been an independent war winner. But instead think of the "hole" in the middle of the North Atlantic being filled by a permanently on-station aircraft carrier in 1941 and 1942...
Geoffrey Pyke, Pykrete and HMS 'Habbakuk' all apparently make an appearance in 'Turbulence', the latest novel by Giles Foden (author of 'The Last King of Scotland' and 'Mimi and Toutou Go Forth'). He mentioned them in his interview on Andrew Marr's 'Start the Week' programme on Radio 4. The novel is mainly about the military use of meteorology in World War II , leading up to D-Day.
Cheers Mark, might have to get that as I enjoyed The Last King of Scotland... and haven't read a Novel in years.
